Equalizing device



Aug. 26 1924. I A. J. HODGE 'EQUALIZING DEVICE Filed Feb. 8, 1923 ir/liflilfl! I illollltll 171 v2 fur ART/70R J. 1700615 Patented Aug. 26, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR J'. HODGE, O13 LOMITA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO UNION TOOL COMPANY, OF TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

EQUALIZING DEVICE.

Application filed February 8, 1923. Serial No. 617,675.

To all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that I, ARTHUR J. Honor,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Lomita, in the county of Los Angeles and State of \lalifornia, have invented a new and useful Equalizing Device, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to equalizing devices and while the invention may be ap plied to mechanisms of various kinds, it has been described in the following specification as applied to a drum for the sand line of an oil well derrick. The invention is very useful when applied to brake mechanism in which there are a plurality of brake means or units operating upon a driven member. The general object of the invention is toprovide means whereby the application of one of the brake-means will operate to exert a force imparted from the applied brake to the other brake-means, so that an equalizing effect will result throughout the different brake-means; in this way the braking power or the work done by the brake-means is substantially equalized or distributed between the different brake units. One of the objects of the invention is to produce a' simple equalizing brake mechanism applicable to a drum.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to be described hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an efficient equalizing device.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is an elevation showing a corner of a derrick floor a part of the frame broken away, and showing the equalizing device as viewed from one end.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the equalizing device also showing a portion of the derrick floor, and frame, and broken away to show the clutch for the shaft of the sand line drum in longitudinal section.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken about on the level of the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and showing details of the equalizing device as constructed when the invention is adapted to the specific construction of a sand line drum.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken about on the line -i-et of Fig. 2 and further illustrating details of this embodiment of the invention.

In using the term driven member, it is to be understood that I do not mean that the member is driven by a motor but simply that it is driven by some force tending to move it and which is controlled by brake means.

In applying my invention to such a driven member to which friction and braking force is to be applied, I provide a plurality of braking-means or brake-units, and I also provide a controlling member for apply-- ing the braking force to at least one of the brake-means; the brake means which is controlled directly by the controlling member is connected with means actuated by the frictional force developed by it for imparting force to the other brake means or units, and this equalizes the operation of the different braking units.

In the present instance the driven member is in the form of a sand line drum 1 which may be mounted in the usual way upon the derrick floor 2, and provided with a hand controlled clutch 3 for connecting or disconnecting the drum; at will from its driving gear 4.

This drum may have a plurality-for example, two brake wheels 5 and 6. With each of these wheels cooperates a brake unit or brake in the form of a brake band 7 and 8 respectively. The brake band 7 is provided with a controlling member 9 in the u form of a hand operated lever, the short arm of which is connected loosely to the loose end 10 of the brake band; the direction of rotation of the drum is indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. Now when the lever 9 is depressed so as to tighten the brake band 7 a very considerable frictional force is developed between the brake wheel 5 and the band, so that the tight end 11 of this band will exert an increased pull upon its anchorage. In order to attain the effects of my invention I anchor the tight end 11 of this brake band to a member which imparts a tightening force to the other brake band 8.

In order to accomplish this I prefer to provide an equalizing shaft 12 which extends longitudinally with the axis of the drum and wheels 5 and 6, and this shaft is provided with oppositely disposed cranks 13 and 1 1-, the former of which is connected to the brake band 7 by a suitable connection 15, and the latter of which is connected by a similar connection 16 to the tight end of the brake band 8. The shaft 12 is supported by suitable bearings 17 secured'on the floor 2 of the derrick. The connections 15 and 16 preferably include eye bolts 18, the ends of which are secured to lugs 19 on the ends of the bral e bands and provided wit-h adjusting nuts 20 which enable the ten sion of the bands to be regulated as desired. I

While an equalizing effect will be developed with the organization of parts described above, I prefer to construct the controlling member 9 with means for applying all of the brake devices or bands T and 8 to tighten them upon their corresponding wheels. For this purpose the controlling member. 9 is a lever formed on a shaft 21 mounted in suitable bearings 22 resting on the floor 2 and this shaft is provided with parallel disposed cranks 28 and 24: which are connected respectively to the loose ends of the brake bands.

When the weight of the cable in the sand line is rotating the drum, the application of the brake band 7 to its wheel by operating the lever 9 will develop an increased friction and a greater pull of the band 7 on the shaft 12 which will tend to pull the crank 18 upwardly as viewed in Fig. 4 and force the crank 14 downwardly. This will produce an equalizing etfeot'of the brake bands. a

One of the advantages arising from the use of the equalizing device is that the brakes will be applied with equal force whether they are exactly adjusted or not. This will reduce the wear onthe individual brakes and also distributes the forces act-- ing on the drum in a manner to be desired.

It is understood that 'the embodiment of the invention described herein is only one of the many embodiments this invention may take and I do not wish to be limited, in the practice of my invention nor in my claims to the particular embodiment set forth.

What I claim is: V

1. In an equalizing device, the combination of a plurality of rigidly connected l'irake-wheels, a brake corresponding to each wheel, a brake controlling member for apiilying at least one of the brakes to its corresponding brake wheel, a shaft extending longitudinally with respect to the axis of the brake wheels, and connections between the shaft and the brakes whereby the frictional force developed by the applied brake operates to impart force tothe other brakes.

2. In an equalizing device, the combination of a pair of brake wheels mounted to: rotate on the same axis, a brake-band corresponding to each wheel, an equalizing shaft ex tending longitudinally with respect to the axis of the wheels and having a crank connected with the tight end of one of the brake bands, a second crank on the shaft on the opposite side thereof connected with the tight end of the other brake band and controlling means for tightening one of. the

brake bands, said shaft operating to pro duce an equalizing force in tightening the bands. l

In an equalizing device, the combination of a pair of brake Wheels mounted-to of Jan. 1923.

ARTHUR J. HODGE. 

